Workers Rally Forces Minister's Evacuation By Helicopter

Bekasi (Antara Bali) - Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Linda Amalia Sari Gumelar had to be evacuated by a helicopter after her car got stuck on a toll road outside Jakarta which had been blocked by a labor rally.

The minister was on her way to Jakarta from Bandung, West Java, and got stuck at KM 31 on the  West Cikarang toll road .

Linda was evacuated by  a helicopter of the Jakarta Police at 15.00 local time from the  West Cikarang II toll road gate.

The access road to the Cikarang Utama toll road  was blocked by demonstrating workers.

Thousands of workers staged the rally after the  Bandung  State Administrative Court ruled in favor of an appeal from  the Indonesian Employers' Association (Apindo) to rescind a West Java governor's decision to raise the regional workers' standard minimum wages.

The workers' rally also caused a traffic snarl that stretched over a distance of more than 11 kilometers.(IGT/T007)